Dai's search part two: Finding Max
by Avatardragontrainer
Summary: Dai has been severely wounded by Xaioshin (Max's Father) and Max has been kidnapped by him. Meanwhile the Emperor has placed bounties on the heads of Dai and his friends; with the help of a new friend they must protect Dai and search for Max. Cover art belongs to me.
1. Hero's Fall

Hero's fall

I still don't own Kung Fu Panda and I take no credit for Arizona and Max only Dai, cover art belongs to me.

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**With Tigress and Arizona during Freefall**

Tigress and Arizona veered off from Dai and Max Tigress glanced behind them expecting to see more soldiers but didn't see any they were all focusing on Dai and Max. Tigress spread her arms and legs slowing her descent enough to grab on to the mountainside with her claws, she slid for awhile then stopped with Arizona next to her.

"When we find Dai I'm gonna kill him." Arizona said letting go of the mountainside and falling to the snow below.

A moment later Tigress landed next to him.

"Come on." she said racing off into the storm with Arizona following her.

"Tigress, wait!" Arizona shouted.

She slowed down and Arizona caught up with her.

"You can't just run off like that." he said. "Especially in a storm like this you could get lost."

"I have to find Dai." Tigress said.

"I understand." Arizona said "But getting lost in a blizzard won't help him."

Not surprisingly Tigress didn't listen to him and took off again.

Arizona caught up with her again. "Don't run off like that." he said.

"Quiet!" Tigress hissed her ears twitching.

"What is it?" Arizona asked trying to listen as well. He heard a very faint scream in the distance.

"That sounds like Max." he said.

"Come on!" Tigress said running off.

"Not again." Arizona said running after her.

He caught up to her and grabbed her by the arm. "Wait!" He said.

"What?" Tigress said.

"Look." Arizona said looking at the ground.

They were standing on the edge of a cliff and if Arizona hadn't stopped Tigress when he did she would have fallen to her death. Tigress gasped and took a few steps backwards.

"How do we get over this?" she asked looking into the chasm.

"We climb." Arizona said seeing the wall of rock to their right.

Arizona climbed up the wall of rock with Tigress following him then started climbing sideways towards the other side of the chasm. They got about half way before the rock gave out below Tigress and she fell, Arizona quickly reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Hold on!" he said digging his claws into the rock face as he started to slide down. He swung Tigress over to the ledge where she grabbed back onto it with her claws.

They continued climbing across the ledge until they reached the other side.

"I don't hear anything anymore." Arizona said in the eerie silence.

"At least the storm's starting to calm down a bit." Tigress said.

They kept moving until they came across the signs of a struggle with a good amount of blood staining the ground but no body. As they looked around Tigress found footprints and a trail of blood.

"This way." she said. "Dai, Max!" she called out but there was no response.

So she tried again. "Dai, Max!" again nothing so they continued to follow the trail stopping once in awhile to call out for Dai or Max.

They found a place where the tracks stopped and there was more blood on the ground but after that the tracks and trail vanished. Tigress looked around and swore punching a tree next to her causing snow to fall on her, Arizona held back a laugh as Tigress growled at him. Arizona sniffed at the air.

"Hide!" he said quietly to Tigress and they ducked behind some trees. Tigress peaked around the tree trunk to see a large pack of Tundra wolves go past.

"Split up and find them." the leader said.

"He must be talking about Dai and Max." Tigress mused.

As the wolves walked past them, without warning Tigress leaped out from her hiding spot. Arizona cursed and followed her. Tigress attacked the wolves spin kicking the first one she saw the others saw her and attacked her one kicked her in the chin knocking her back against a tree Tigress ducked his punch and punched him in the gut. He doubled over and Tigress drove her knee into his chin.

Tigress glanced over at Arizona and saw him fighting a couple wolves he was doing well so Tigress focused on other wolves. Three of them ganged up her and backed her towards the cliff she was so busy deflecting their blows she didn't notice.

One of them lunged at Tigress and she fell off the cliff, Arizona saw her fall and rushed towards her.

"Tigress!" he shouted kicking the wolves off the cliff.

He looked over the side and was relieved to see Tigress hanging on to the Cliffside.

"Grab my paw." he said kneeling down.

Tigress reached up to grab Arizona's paw. But as he reached for her a wolf grabbed him from behind Tigress heard the sound of fighting, then someone walking towards the ledge.

Tigress was sure it was one of the Timber Wolves but was relieved to see Arizona again and grabbed his paw and he pulled her back up.

"Come on, we have to keep looking." Tigress said.

"Dai! Dai!" Tigress called out. "Over here!" a voice called back and Tigress rushed forward.


	2. New Ally

New ally

I do not own Kiro or Kung Fu Panda

Huge thanks to Jweaks2016 for helping me with this chapter and letting me use Kiro.

**In the Capitol a few days before Freefall**

"Kiro!" The Emperor roared, and a young white tiger rushed into the throne room.

"Yes Your Magistrate?" Kiro joked.

"I have a mission for you. These enemies of mine have proved more difficult to defeat than I thought." The Emperor said. "One of them has a weakness, though; a young cub he considers his brother. I want you to kidnap this cub and bring him here, and his brother will follow."

"You want me to kidnap someone?" Kiro asked.

"You dare question me!?" The Emperor said getting up off his throne.

"This is wrong." Kiro said, shaking his head. "I won't do it."

"What?" The Emperor said.

"That Samurai was right. Something's wrong here." Kiro continued.

"You talked to the Samurai?" The Emperor asked, becoming a little worried.

**Two days ago in the holding cells**

Kiro stood in front of a cell that held a white tiger named Takashi; a Samurai warrior from Japan.

_What does the Emperor want with him?_ Kiro wondered.

Takashi noticed Kiro standing there and walked over to the bars.

"What does the Emperor want with you?" Kiro asked.

"Revenge I guess." Takashi replied. "And that's not the emperor, it's an imposter."

"How do you know?" Kiro asked, drawn back a little by the sudden statement.

"I can tell." Takashi responded, leaning against the bars. "Let me guess, you've suspected something's been wrong for a while, right? That's why you're here."

"Yeah." Kiro said. "But how'd you know?"

"You've got the same look on your face my brother used to get when something bothered him. You even look a bit like him, what's your name?"

"Kiro Takimuro."

"That's interesting." Takeshi murmured.

"What's interesting?" Kiro asked.

"That name, 'Takimuro', it's my brother's, and my brother….is Emperor of Japan." "So like I said, interesting."

_Ha! That'd be funny is we were somehow related!_ Kiro thought, chuckling to himself.

**Present day**

Kiro stood in the throne room his hand hovering over his staffs, and suddenly he drew and sparked them before rushing forward towards the Emperor. He never got close. Two guards grabbed him from behind and forced him to his knees.

"Let go of me!" Kiro shouted fighting against the guards.

Then one of then hit him on the head and he blacked out.

When Kiro woke up, the very first thing he noticed was how cold he was. At first he thought he might be in Chorh Gom Prison, but when he looked around and he saw he was actually outside. Someone had dumped him in a snow bank in the middle of a blizzard.

"Well that was a FROSTY thing to do!" Kiro joked, rubbing his hands together. "Those guards are pretty COLD HEARTED."

At least he still had his staffs, though. Just as he was starting to wonder what was going on, he heard a shout for help in the distance. Kiro got up and raced toward the cries.

Eventually he came across a White Tiger buried in the snow; Kiro looked and saw a foot prints and a blood trail leading to the tiger. He looked to be about the same age as him, being around 18 years old. He knelt down, rolled the tiger over, and saw a knife sticking in his stomach. Kiro thought about pulling it out, but stopped when he heard someone shouting.

"Dai! Dai!" A voice called out in the snow storm.

"Over here." Kiro shouted back, and a moment later a snow covered orange and black Tigress appeared with a wolf by her side.

Tigress saw a strange tiger crouching next to Dai; it looked like he'd stabbed him. She rushed forward and spin kicked the tiger in the head knocking him away from Dai.

"Who are you!?" She demanded, pinning the tiger to the ground and bringing her claws out.

"Let me up, please, and I'll explain." Kiro replied, grinning painfully.

Tigress only growled.

"Wow. Aren't we an angry kitty? Okay…" Kiro began. "My name is Kiro Takimuro."

Tigress growled again. "Impossible you died!"

"Can we do this later?" Kiro said. "You're friend needs help. I mean, if you want to keep me pinned down and question me like a crook while your friend bleeds out, then go right ahead, but I frown upon those sorts of things."

Tigress growled again but let Kiro up. "If you try anything…"

Tigress said making a cutting motion across her neck and Kiro gulped. Tigress and Arizona picked up Dai, and holding him between them, carried him to a cave nearby with Kiro following. As soon as they got inside Tigress grabbed one of Dai's staffs and pinned Kiro to the wall sparking the staff in his face.

"Explain yourself, now!" She demanded.

"You ever think of asking someone nicely? Huh? Just say, 'Hey, Kiro, I know you've thought to have been dead for many years, and I'm so glad to see you again, but could you please tell me where you've been?' You want me to tell you my life story, huh? First tell me where you got that." Kiro exclaimed.

He'd never seen staffs like his.

"Tigress calm down." Arizona soothed. "Wait…where's Max?"

"Who Max?" Kiro asked.

"A White Tiger cub about five years old." Arizona replied, looking around. "MAX?"

"I didn't see him." Kiro stated, and Tigress growled in Kiro's face again. "Would you STOP with the growling? I'm beginning to think you just like getting close to me."

This remark got Kiro a hard punch in the stomach from the tigress.

"I'll go look for him." Arizona said before rushing out of the cave and into the storm, leaving Kiro and Tigress alone with Dai.

"DON'T LEAVE ME WITH HER! SHE'S NUTTY!" Kiro called out, but sighed when Arizona didn't return.

"What are you doing here Kiro?" Tigress asked.

"Honestly? I don't know." Kiro replied. "I attacked the Emperor, though."

"You WHAT?!" Tigress screamed, causing Kiro to flinch back a little.

"Let me finish! He's an imposter." Kiro quickly explained.

"How do you know?" Tigress asked, still keeping the white tiger pined to the wall.

"A Samurai warrior named Takashi Nakamura told me." Kiro replied, grinning fearfully. "Please let me go now."


	3. Legends never die

Legends never die

I do not own Kung Fu panda or Kiro, Arizona or Max.

"Did you say Nakamura?" Tigress asked.

"Um…yes." Kiro said, smiling nervously and getting ready to duck in case the crazy tigress tried to hit him again. "Who is he?"

"He's Dai's father." Tigress said letting go of Kiro.

The white tiger looked past Tigress at Dai, who was lying on the floor of the cave, and could see the resemblance.

"So who is _he_?" Kiro asked, indicating Dai.

"He's the Dragon Warrior." Tigress responded.

"That's the Dragon Warrior; as in the siege of Gongmen City, Dragon Warrior?" Kiro asked, and Tigress nodded. "Really? As in Shifu chosen, Tai Lung defeater, and China superstar, Dragon Warrior?"

"Yes." Tigress replied sternly.

"I didn't think he was so young."

"He's seventeen." Tigress stated.

That made Dai about a year younger then Kiro.

"What do you know about his old man?" The white tiger asked, sitting down.

"Not much." Tigress replied. "Dai told me he was a Samurai back in Japan and was also a guard for the Emperor. That's about it."

"Maybe he was right." Kiro thought aloud, chuckling slightly. "Crazy coot…"

"Who?" Tigress asked.

"Takashi, Dai's father. He said we might be related."

"From what I know white tigers are really rare so it's possible." Tigress said.

"If so, then you better start treating me with more respect, kitty! You could be talking to royalty right now! Any who, let me see that." Kiro asked, motioning to Dai's electric staffs, and to his surprise, Tigress handed it over to him.

Kiro got up and sparked it and blue sparks jumped out of it.

"Hmm. Similarities…" He said, spinning the staff in his hand. "Where did he get this?"

"The staffs were given to him after we returned from the battle for Gongmen City." Tigress said.

"Staffs?" Kiro asked. "There are two of them?"

Tigress grabbed Dai's other staff and tossed it to him. Kiro drew his own staff and sparked it comparing the two.

"They're almost identical." He said to himself. "Different, but the same. That's kind of like you and me, Tigress. I'm fun to be around and a nice person, and you're dull as dirt and a grouch now, but we're both tigers!"

In response, Tigress growled again.

Kiro swung his staff and Dai's around experimentally.

"Kiro, if that's who you really are, of which I doubt, be careful since you don't know what will happen." Tigress warned.

"It's fine! What could possibly—?" Kiro started, but was cut off when the staffs collided and caused a small explosion, throwing Kiro back into the wall.

"Ow, that hurt." He said from the floor.

"What happened?" Tigress asked.

"I don't know." The white tiger replied, standing up. "That might come in handy later though."

Despite the explosion, both staffs were unharmed. Kiro handed Dai's staff back to Tigress.

"Who ever made these staffs was attempting to clone mine." He said.

"Is that a problem?" Tigress asked.

"Nah! I mean, other than the fact that mine are one-of-a-kind and highly deadly if used in a specific fashion and the right materials were added on to it, there's no problem at all!" Kiro joked. "But seriously though, with the right things, they could generate a larger explosion just like that without having multiple versions of the staffs. In other words, staff plus evil things equals boom goes the dynamite."

Just then Arizona returned looking weakened and tired. He took a moment to catch his breath, and then started to talk. "I looked everywhere for Max but I couldn't find him. I followed his scent for miles but I lost it in the storm. I saw a large Village nearby; we can take Dai there to heal."

At that moment Dai started thrashing around on the cave floor.

"Hold him down!" Tigress ordered. "He'll hurt himself!"

**In Dai's Mind**

Dai raced down a dark hallway; he knew Max was here somewhere.

"Max!" Dai yelled. "Max!"

A small figure appeared at the end of the hallway and Dai ran forward.

"Max!" He said, dropping to his knees and hugging him.

After a moment Dai let go of Max and looked at him. His cloths were shredded and there wasn't a part of his body that didn't have an injury of some kind.

"Max what happened, who did this to you?" Dai asked.

Max seemed to take awhile to answer.

"I…I… died." Max said slowly like he was only now remembering.

"What?" Dai asked.

"My father tortured, molested and killed me." Max said, his expression suddenly changing to angry before kicking Dai backwards and shouting, "WHERE WERE YOU!? I cried and cried for help but you never showed up!"

Max kept yelling and hitting Dai, knocking him to the floor.

"You promised you'd always be there for me but when I needed you and you weren't there!"

It hurt Dai to see Max this angry at him. "Max, I'm sorry."

"I TRUSTED YOU!" Max yelled, pulling out a knife murder in his eyes.

"Max, please don't." Dai said.

Max brought the knife down but Dai rolled and it only hit the floor. Dai got his feet and ran away from Max but slid to a stop when he came to a dead end. He turned around to go back but found his way blocked by Max who was charging at him.

"I'm not going to fight you, Max." Dai said, dodging the knife. "I…can't."

"That will be you're end!" Max shouted and threw the knife at Dai.

The knife hit Dai in the shoulder and knocked him to the floor. Max stood over Dai with another knife.

"Max, please…." Dai whispered.

Max brought the knife down on Dai's chest and he woke with a start in the Hall of Warrior's.

Dai looked around and saw a tiger standing nearby that looked like him, wearing battle armor with a cloak over it. His Kodachi swords crossed on his back and stuck out the top of the cloak and his staffs hung from his hips.

"Where am I?" Dai asked.

"The simple answer, you're in your own mind." The tiger turned around and Dai saw it was…himself…but something was different about him; he seemed sad somehow.

"Who are you?" Dai asked getting up.

"I'm you're Heroic side." The tiger replied.

"How can I have a Heroic side? I'm not a Hero." Dai answered.

"Max represents you're fear of failure. You're afraid you'll fail to protect him."

"What about Tigress?" Dai asked nervously.

"Loss." A voice answered from above.

Heroic Dai and normal Dai turned around and saw a figure jump down from the pillar above.


	4. Face your fears

Face your fears

I do not own Kung Fu Panda

I should mention I'm not going to be doing any actual chapters with Max and Xaioshin until a little later...until then you'll have to wait.

Also thanks to jweaks2016 for helping with Dai's new/old personality.

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Dai looked at the figure who'd jumped down in front of them; he lowered his hood revealing another version of himself. From his cloths, Dai guessed he was his bad side, but he asked anyway.

"Who are you?" Dai asked, stepping towards the replica of himself.

"I'm assassin Dai." The tiger explained. "I kill those who need to be killed. Going back to the matter at hand, though, Tigress represents you're fear of losing everything you care about."

Dai looked back and forth at his good and bad sides. They looked almost identical.

"Aren't you two supposed to look different then each other?" Dai asked. "You're practically twins. Like, one of you has a white robe on and the other has horns?"

"You're good and bad sides are so similar that we basically are twins." Assassin Dai stated.

"That doesn't sound quite nice. How do I get back?" Dai asked. "Is there a door or something?"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple." Heroic Dai replied.

"It never is." Dai sighed. "Am I dead?"

The scene shifted to a cave, and Dai saw himself lying on the floor, heavily bandaged with Tigress sitting near him.

"You're not dead." Assassin Dai said. "At least not yet…"

"You're not helping." Heroic Dai cut in, then turned back to the Dragon Warrior. "If you went back in your current state you'd die."

"So I'm stuck here?" Dai asked.

"Yes until you've healed enough in the real world." Assassin Dai said.

"Great, so I'm stuck here talking to myself for the time being." Dai mumbled, and then looked around the cave, seeing Arizona and another white tiger. "Who's that?"

"Kiro Takimuro." Heroic Dai replied. "He's the one that found you."

"That name sounds familiar. Did he sell me rice once?" The Dragon Warrior said to himself, witnessing the scene shift back to the Hall of Warriors.

"I don't get it." Dai complained. "If all I have to do is wait, why did Max attack me the way he did?"

"You're fear is the other thing keeping you here." Heroic Dai responded. "You're afraid of what will happen if you fail to protect Max, or what will happen if you lose everything you have."

"Until you conquer you fear you're not going anywhere." Assassin Dai said.

"How am I supposed to do that?" Dai asked, sitting on the floor. "My greatest fear right now is having to spend more time around the two of you."

"Charming. It's up to you." Heroic Dai replied.

"Are you going to help me?" Dai asked.

"No." Assassin Dai hissed suddenly. "We can't interfere, but I think you can handle it."

"Gee thanks. The usual 'you have to do this by yourself because you're the big hero' kind of situation." Dai stated, unconvinced.

A few moments passed, and then Dai asked something. "How exactly am I supposed to do this?"

"You'll face each of you fears. For example, Max is your fear of failure." Heroic Dai said.

"Tigress is your fear of loss, like I said." Assassin Dai added.

"How many of these are there?" Dai asked.

"Well, what else are you afraid of?" Assassin Dai countered.

"Don't you know already since you're me?" Dai asked.

"Nope." The assassin replied.

"Being left alone when I was a cub." Dai stated after awhile.

"Okay what else?" Heroic Dai pushed.

"Not the dark itself but what hides in it." Dai continued.

"Good one." Assassin Dai pointed.

"Losing my friends." Dai listed.

"I think that's Tigress." Heroic Dai cut in.

"Wolves." Dai finished.

"But your friend is a wolf." Dai's heroic side stated.

"I know." The Dragon Warrior sighed. "But I've never really felt that comfortable around Arizona because of what happened to me when I was a cub."

"Really?" Heroic Dai asked.

"What happened?" Assassin Dai pressured.

"Don't you already know?" Dai asked.

"Again, nope." The assassin replied.

"I don't want to talk about it." Dai said, shooting down the conversation. "I guess I'll face Max first."

"Alright then." Heroic Dai said, and the scene changed once again to the dark hallway Dai had started in.

Max

Dai slowly walked down the hallway, drawing one of his staff's and sparking it to light the way.

"Max?" He called cautiously. "Where are you, buddy?"

A moment later, Max appeared at the end of the hallway. He turned and looked at Dai, his eyes glowing orange.

"Okay, that's disturbing." Dai muttered. "That's fine. I was running low on nightmare fuel anyway."

Max let out a demonic yell and charged at Dai. Dai charged back at Max and dropped to the floor, sliding under him as he jumped. Dai didn't want to hurt Max, but the Bengal Tiger spun around and slashed at Dai with his dagger. Dai caught Max's arm and twisted it making him yell and drop the blade. The Dragon Warrior let go and Max dropped to his knees, holding his arm.

Dai had to remind himself this was not the Max he knew; it was only his fear taking the form of Max. Max suddenly jumped and flip kicked Dai under the chin, knocking him over backwards. Dai landed on his back and rolled as Max brought the dagger down and it hit the floor.

Dai got to his feet and sparked his other staff. "Please, don't make me do this Max. It'll be all messy and nasty and just unpleasant to clean up later!"

"You left me to die!" Max shouted, hate and rage seeping from his voice.

"No I didn't. Do you have amnesia?" Dai called back. "I would never abandon you like that!"

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep." Max spat, attacking Dai again.

He raised his staffs and hit Max with them, making the Bengal Tiger yell and fall to the floor with burn marks on his chest.

"I'm so sorry Max." Dai whispered.

A second later Max's body disintegrated leaving a small pile of ash.

"And it was aaalll a dream." Dai whispered waving his fingers in the air.

A scream in the distance startled Dai and he whipped around.

He recognized that tone.

"Tigress!" He yelled, and ran towards the sound of the scream.


	5. Face you fears pt2

Tigress

I do not own Kung Fu Panda

Posted the right chapter this time sorry about that if it messed anyone up.

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Dai raced towards the sound of Tigress' voice and found her in another room, shackled to the wall.

"Tigress!" Dai exclaimed, rushing forward.

"Dai, wait!" Tigress said, and Dai was struck in the side of head by something.

Dai rolled to his feet and looked around for his attacker but didn't see anything. Dai sparked his staffs and looked around the room, the light briefly passed over a figure but when he went back it had disappeared. Thinking maybe he'd imagined it, Dai quickly spun around and ran over to Tigress and unlocked her shackles causing her to fall. He caught her before she could hit the ground. Their bodies briefly pressed against one another before Dai set Tigress on the floor, only now seeing how badly she was injured. Just as he started to check her different wounds, something or someone knocked him away from Tigress, causing the hero to tumble into a wall. Dai got up and swung his staffs at the figure, but the passed through it harmlessly.

"What the…?" Dai sputtered, and was struck in the chest.

Dai swore as he felt ribs break and crashed into the wall. Dai got up holding his ribs, but refusing to back down. He drew his swords instead and swung them at the figure, but they too passed right through it.

"Oh come on!" Dai said kicking at the figure. "Is this guy a ghost?"

"Dai you can't win this fight! You have to go!" Tigress called. "It's futile."

"There's no way I'm leaving you!" Dai replied, running over to Tigress and attempting to free her again.

"You have to or you'll die!" Tigress stated as Dai was grabbed from behind thrown into another wall. "Please. Just go. I don't want to see you die again."

Dai looked at her. She had a pained expression on her face and was on the verge of tears. Tigress knew what she was asking. Yelling in frustration, Dai turned and ran out the room, and a second later he heard a scream that belonged to Tigress. Then, silence.

Arizona/wolves

Dai leaned against the wall and slid to the floor his sword resting on his legs.

"I can't do this." Dai said.

A voice shouted. "Help me!"

A scream tore through the silence, and Dai bolted to his feet in time to see a tiger cub race around the corner followed closely by a wolf that resembled Arizona. Dai ran past the cub and slammed into the wolf, knocking him to the floor; the wolf kicked Dai off him and stood up, snarling.

"Leave the cub alone." Dai ordered, sparking his staffs.

The wolf growled and ran towards Dai. The hero jumped up and spin kicked the wolf into a wall. Dai approached him, but the wolf kicked Dai back and stood up. He began punching Dai as he stumbled backwards and fell against the wall. The wolf grabbed him by the neck and pulled him to his feet.

"Strong little guy, aren't ya?" The Dragon Warrior coughed.

Dai pulled out one of his daggers and stabbed the wolf on the arm, making the wolf yell and drop Dai to the floor. The hero kicked the wolf in the knee, making him drop to the floor.

Dai hit the wolf multiple times until he was dead, then stood up panting and turned to the frightened cub.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

The cub moved away from him and Dai couldn't help but be reminded of Max a little bit.

"It's okay." Dai said holding out his hand. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm Dai."

"Me too." The cub replied, and the hero's eyes widened.

The cub hesitated for a second then took Dai's hand. A sound behind him made Dai whirl around to see more wolves. Thinking quickly, Dai slammed his staffs into the floor, shocking the wolves. They crumpled to the floor while Dai grabbed the cub and ran.

"Watch out!" The young cub yelled as an arrow flew past them.

Dai turned around, setting the cub down and deflected more arrows. He even managed to catch one and throw it back at the shooter, hitting them in the chest. Dai turned back around and raced down the hallway with the younger version of him and crashed through the door at the end, only to find himself outside. He turned around to go back, but the door had vanished. There wasn't even a building.

"That is so messed up." Dai said turning back around.

As he did, there was a loud crash of thunder and a flash of lightning. Young Dai whimpered slightly. There was another flash of lightning and he yelled. Dai wondered for a second what he was yelling at, then turned and got sucker punched in the stomach, making him double over. When Dai stood back up, he saw Young Dai being held by a wolf.

"Let go of me!" The cub shouted, struggling to break free.

"I don't think so. You're mine." The wolf said, licking Young Dai's tail and causing him to whimper.

"Let go of him!" Dai shouted.

The wolf dropped him, but pinned him to the ground under his foot. Young Dai pulled out his dagger and stabbed the wolf who yelled stumbling backwards. He raced towards Dai, but just as he got close he yelled out and fell forward onto the ground. An arrow was sticking out of his back.

The wolf laughed and reloaded his crossbow.

"You Monster!" Dai yelled and the wolf fired another bolt.

Dai kicked it away from him, and then charged forward, kicked the crossbow out the wolf's hands and broke it, then kicked the wolf again. The hero drove him into a tree and pinned him there, snarling.

"Go ahead, kill me!" The wolf laughed.

Dai growled. "Gladly."

The Dragon Warrior drew his knife and drove it into the wolves' chest; Dai let go of the wolf, and he crumpled to the ground, dead.


	6. Ghosts

Ghosts

I don't own Kung Fu Panda

* * *

After killing the wolf, Dai turned and went back over to the younger version of him. The cub was still alive but barely.

"Hey." Dai whispered, kneeling down next to the cub.

"I don't want to die." The cub sobbed.

"You're not going to die, you'll be fine." Dai reassured, holding the dying cub.

"Thanks." The cub said, his eyes gleaming.

"For what?" Dai asked, not sure as to what the cub meant.

"For not giving up."

With that, the cub closed his eyes and stopped moving all together. Dai stood up and looked around wiping his eyes.

"Let me out of here!" He shouted. "I don't want to do this anymore!"

Dai was answered only by the wind howling. At least that's what Dai thought, until he turned around and saw a demon made out of smoke standing directly behind him with glowing red eyes. Dai tried to run but his fear had frozen him in place. The demon kicked him across the ground, and Dai rolled to a stop several yards away. He stood up and faced the demon, sparking his staffs.

He ran at the beast, swinging his staffs at it, but they passed harmlessly through it.

"Not again!" Dai whined and got kicked into a tree. "That is _so_ unfair."

He dodged another kick and barrel rolled to his left, facing the demon once more.

**In reality**

Dai tossed and turned on the cave floor in a cold sweat.

"Something's wrong." Tigress said suddenly, leaning forward and placed a hand on Dai's forehead, feeling heat being emitted from his skull. "Dai's burning up."

"How can he be burning up? I'm freezing to death over here!" Kiro said shivering. "Somebody get me a parka or something!"

Tigress ignored him and looked back at Dai. "Come on Dai. Wake up."

**In Dai's Mind**

"I am SO sick of this paranormal crap!" Dai complained as he picked himself up off the ground again.

He was getting his butt kicked by this thing. There was a small gash on his head, and his chest felt like it was on fire. He briefly wondered what would happen if he died in here, but regained focus as he quickly ducked as the demon threw a punch at him. The punch took a chunk out of the tree, and Dai glanced at the piece broken off.

"I wish I could punch that hard. Maybe Tigress can teach me." Dai muttered, spin kicking the demon on the head; the only solid part of it.

The Demon stumbled back and Dai slammed his staffs into the ground shocking it. The Demon let out a howl of agony, so Dai did it again. This time, the demon let out an ear piercing shriek that made Dai wince, and the beast dissipated. Out of breath, Dai collapsed to all fours; he hoped this nightmare was finally over. Slowly Dai stood up looked around and counted of the fears he'd defeated: Max, Tigress, Wolves, and Darkness; that was it all four.

Dai stopped when he realized he'd forgotten one: Death. He was afraid to die.

Death

The scene started to change once again.

"Aw man! Not again!" Dai complained.

This time, a battlefield appeared and Dai recognized it as the battle for Gongmen City; the actual place he'd 'died'. This was not the place Dai wanted to be. He didn't want to watch himself die, but he saw himself along with Tigress fighting against the vast army in the closing moments of the battle. Dai saw himself get thrown against the catapult and fall to the ground and heard Tigress yell 'Dai!'

Dai turned away just as Tigress was struck by the wolf and looked for anything out of place.

"That'll work." Dai said seeing Tai Lung.

Tai Lung saw Dai and drew a pair of mean looking swords and swung them around, Dai groaned; not having the energy for another fight. He saw a crossbow laying nearby and flipped it up with his foot, caught it in his hands, and shot Tai Lung in the chest.

"All too easy." He sighed, dropping the crossbow.

A moment later there was the bright flash of light when he used the Hero's Chi. He turned around and saw Tigress rush over to him and kiss him passionately.

"I forgot about that." Dai remarked, and the scene dissolved back into the Hall of Warriors. "All done."

"What, already?" Assassin Dai asked, looking up from the choke hold he'd put Heroic Dai in.

"Let go of me!" Heroic Dai shot punching Assassin Dai.

Dai ran over and separated the two clones. "Can't you two get along for five minutes?"

"Not likely." They both replied, giving each other the evil eye.

Dai groaned, sat down against one of the pillars, and closed his eyes.

**In Reality**

Dai suddenly stopped thrashing around and Tigress put a hand on him, concerned that his heart rate had dropped and his breathing was calmer.

"Someone's approaching!" Arizona said quietly.

Kiro and Tigress jumped to their feet and ran over to the cave mouth.

"Ca caaa! Ca caaa!" Kiro called out, sounding like a bird.

Tigress punched him in the arm. "What are you doing?"

"That'll be our secret distress call from now on. Alright?" Kiro remarked. "Ca caaa!"

Very close by, a Mountain Lion named Jason approached what he thought was an empty cave. When he got to the mouth of the cave, a tiger grabbed him and pinned him to the rocky wall.

"Ca caaa, Dip Stick." A white tiger said, grinning widely. "Please, come in to our happy cave. We're very hospitable here."

Behind the white tiger, another orange tiger growled.

"Well, she's not very hospitable, but other than that, we're all good here." The white tiger added.

* * *

Not quite the epic battle you expected was it? It just shows how Dai can think on his feet. Anyone catch the Indiana Jones reference? First look at one of my new Oc's Jason, there'll be others. Cairo a Wolf dog and Alex a Bengal Tiger and a Lion, maybe a story behind them?


	7. Awakening

Awakening

I own nothing except my own Oc's

Not sure if i mentioned it before but thanks to jweaks2016 for editing my chapters for me.

* * *

"Who are you?!" Tigress demanded.

"I'm Jason." The mountain lion replied. "Please don't kill me."

"Let him go Tigress." Kiro ordered. "He did say 'please' after all."

Tigress snarled, but let go of Jason and went back into the cave.

"Does she always do that?" Jason asked.

"Yeah." Kiro said. "You'll get used to is eventually."

"What happened to your friend?" Jason asked, seeing Dai on the floor of the cave.

"Climbing accident." Tigress and Kiro said after a moment. "He fell."

"How far did he 'fall'?" Jason asked seeing the extent of Dai's injuries. "He almost looks like he was attacked."

"He fell far. Hit every single edge on the way down in fact." Kiro stated, smiling a little. "Yep. That's it. Let's go with that."

**In Dai's Mind**

A few hours later, Dai opened his eyes to see he was still in the Hall of Warriors.

The hero sighed. "I did everything I was supposed to, so why am I still here?"

"Maybe because you don't want to leave." Assassin Dai responded, ducking a punch from Heroic Dai and tackling him to the floor.

Dai thought about intervening, but decided against it. Those two would never stop fighting.

"Wait? What do you mean?" Dai asked a second later, standing up.

Heroic Dai kicked Assassin Dai off him and stood up. "It could be because you're not healed yet."

"Maybe." Dai pondered, standing up and looking around the Hall of Heroes; nothing looked off to him. "Can I see the rest of the palace or the village? There might be something there."

"It's your head." Assassin Dai stated, and the scene shifted to the Barracks. "You might want to brace yourself though."

"For what?" Dai asked.

At that moment Tigress emerged from her room and saw Dai. She ran towards him but passed right through him. Dai turned around and saw Tigress grab and hug another orange and black tiger.

"What's going on here?" Dai asked. "Who's that, and why're they hugging?"

"This is an alternate version of what happened in Gongmen City; here you never used the Hero's Chi and never came back to life." Assassin Dai said. "Tigress has moved on."

"No, she wouldn't do that." Dai said. "She's faithful and such."

"You're clearly worried about it. Otherwise, we wouldn't be standing here." Assassin Dai stated, dodging another punch from Heroic Dai.

Dai was almost afraid to ask to see the village, but Assassin Dai took him there too. The tiger wasn't sure what to expect there.

"It looks completely normal." He said, looking around. "No difference whatsoever."

"Wait for it." Assassin Dai sighed.

"What are you doing!?" Heroic Dai shouted, suddenly appearing at their side.

"He wanted to see the village." Assassin Dai said. "I'm no genie in a bottle, but I can grant him that wish."

"You know you're not supposed to show him that." Heroic Dai complained.

"Not supposed to show me what?" Dai asked confused.

"You're future." Heroic Dai sighed, shaking his head.

"I have a future? That's nice to know." Dai said. "Does it contain happy times and lots of food? I'm starving right now."

"No it isn't YOUR future; we have to leave this area NOW!" Heroic Dai shouted.

"Why what's the big…" Dai trailed off as Max ran past them. "Wait a second; I thought I already dealt with Max."

"You did, but that was just your fear taking Max's form. This IS Max." Heroic Dai said. "The fear is you. You're afraid you'll be a terrible big brother to Max."

"Okay so what do I do?" Dai asked.

"There's nothing you can do. Confronting this fear WILL kill you." Heroic Dai replied. "It's why we didn't mention it."

"All you can do is try to be the best older brother to Max as you can." He added.

Suddenly, Dai yelled in pain and dropped to the ground, holding his stab wound even though it wasn't there. Dai yelled again and the scene faded out. When it faded back in, Dai saw the cave. He moved his head to his right and saw Tigress.

**In reality**

"Tigress?" Dai asked weakly.

Tigress whirled around and saw Dai awake.

"You're alive!" She exclaimed, pulling Dai into tight hug.

"You're crushing me." Dai gasped.

"Oh sorry." Tigress said letting go of Dai so he could breath.

"I just healed. I'd prefer to keep it that way for a little bit." The Dragon Warrior sighed, and a second later, the cold hit him. "Why is it so cold?"

"We're still in the mountains. Here…" Tigress said, giving the hero a blanket.

"How come he gets the blanket!?" Kiro complained from the other side of the cave. "I say favoritism!"

"Why aren't you looking for Max?" Dai asked, wrapping himself in the cloth.

"We couldn't look for him with you being so badly hurt." Tigress replied.

Dai tried to sit up, but his stomach exploded in pain and he collapsed back to the floor. He then briefly remembered being stabbed by Xaioshin and him dragging Max away.

"You think you can move?" Tigress asked.

"I don't know." Dai said. "I can try."

He attempted to stand up, and with Tigress's help Dai managed to get to his feet. Dai got about two feet before he stumbled, but Tigress kept him from falling.

"Maybe its best if I just stay put for awhile." Dai mumbled, and Tigress set him back down on the floor of the cave. "Where's Arizona?"

"Arizona went on a scouting mission with Jason." Tigress responded, looking out into the snow storm.

"Who?" Dai asked.

After a moment, Tigress spoke again. "Someone we met. You want to try walking again?"

"Alright." Dai sighed, standing up again with Tigress's help.

They got about three feet before Dai stumbled and fell taking Tigress with him and landing on top of her. From the other end of the cave, the two heard Kiro cracking up; his laughter echoing throughout the cave.

Dai quickly got off Tigress and sat up.

"What's going on you guys just left?" Tigress asked seeing Arizona and Jason.

"We spotted Imperial soldiers close by." Arizona stated. "I'm guessing they're looking for us. We should move Dai to the nearby village or at least a different cave."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Kiro said, sniffing and wiping his eyes. "Dai's the Dragon Warrior and a well-known white tiger at that, like myself. We might as well just put a sign up that says he's the Dragon Warrior. Come one; come all to kill the hero of China!"

"Unless I'm not me." Dai said.

"What?" Everyone asked in unison.

"Yeah, he's taken the crazy train out of his mind." Kiro said, rubbing his head. "Well, with Dai insane, it looks like I'll have to step up as Dragon Warrior."

"I'm perfectly fine. I look enough like Kiro to pretend to be his brother or something." Dai explained.

"You do look and act alike." Tigress said, looking at the two tigers.

"No we don't!" Kiro said and started pointing out the differences, then stopped when he realized he was actually proving Tigress's point. "Uh, he… Oh! He doesn't have as many witty remarks as I do!"

"That's a blessing, though." Dai chuckled, drawing an angry look from Kiro.

"One way to find out." Tigress said.

"He'll never make it all the way to the village." Jason stated. "I have a cabin nearby we can take him to instead."

"How far is this cabin exactly?" Arizona asked.

"Not too far." Jason said.

'Not too far' turned out to be almost a quarter mile in a blizzard.

"'Not too far' he said. 'It won't be long' he said! HA!" Kiro complained. "If this is 'not too far,' then I'd hate to see what a long trip is in your opinion!"

"Down!" Jason suddenly ordered, and the five of them all dropped to the ditch.

Dai and Kiro's white fur would help them blend in but Arizona, Tigress and Jason would stand out a little. A small group of soldiers walked past them, totally unaware of the hidden heroes, however the second to last soldier stopped when he saw blood on the ground.

"Keep walking…" Kiro whispered.

Tigress looked over at Dai and realized his bandage had come off at some point. He was now bleeding quite badly. Tigress placed her paw on Dai's wound, causing him to groan in pain. Tigress quickly covered his mouth and hoped no one heard him.

* * *

Woo! Dai's back! Sort of…


End file.
